The Young Luna

Chapter 27

.

.

When we got home, I took a shower as Seth made me something to eat. Once I had cleaned myself

completely, I stepped out and grabbed a towel. But I didn't instantly wrap the towel around myself, I

simply stood in front of the mirror and stared at my reflection. My brand new reflection.

"Fuck" Seth hissed from behind me. I glanced up and saw him through the mirror. He stood in the

doorway, plate of toast in his hand, as his bright blue eyes looked over my naked body. "You look

beautiful".

"I feel it" I admitted, smiling softly as I wrapped my towel around myself.

"I don't mean that you didn't look beautiful before" he commented worriedly. "I loved how you were

before and I love how you are now. You're my mate, I love you no matter how you look".

I offered him a small smile through the mirror, "I love you too".

I got dressed in some old pyjama's and ate the toast quietly. Seth watched me the entire time, the dark

bags under his eyes informing me that he was just as I tired as I was. When I finished eating, I

suggested we both go to bed – despite the fact it was seven am.

"No, the doctor is waiting downstairs for you" Seth replied to me.

"Why didn't you tell me? I would have eaten after".

"He can wait. You take as long as you need". Seth reached up and cupped my cheek, his bright eyes

full of fear. I never expected Seth to be scared of anything, but I looked into his eyes and saw that fear

he felt. "When they told me you'd gone..." he trailed off, gulping deeply.

"When I was lying there...in the forest...all I wanted was you. I love you Seth and I'm sorry about the

fight before". My eyes watered as I tried not to cry.

"No I am sorry". He kissed me deeply and I melted into him, kissing him back eagerly as I wrapped my

arms around him tightly. I pulled away from the kiss and rested my forehead against him.

"You smell fucking amazing" I blurted out. Seth laughed brightly, kissing me again before smiling at me.

"Sorry, but I can smell everything now and you smell amazing. I could just sniff you all day long".

Seth laughed and it was such a nice, warm, sound that I almost sighed blissfully. "Come on, freckles,

the doctor is waiting for you".

"Not so much freckles anymore" I commented. Seth smiled softly, almost sadly, and ran a finger over

the bridge of my nose.

"I still know they're there. You will always me by Freckles". He pressed a playful kiss to the tip of my

nose, before taking my hand and walking me downstairs. Doctor Ballore was waiting patiently in the

lounge for me, not looking bothered by the fact I had kept him waiting.

"Luna, how are you feeling?" he asked me, smiling softly at me.

"Tired" I admitted honestly. The doctor sat me down on the couch and gave me a check-up quickly, not

finding anything to note.

"I do want you to come down to the surgery though, I'd like to take some bloods and take some other

tests to make sure everything is fine. A forced first Shift is a very violent one and you'll likely be tired for

the next few days, may even get a fever with it" he explained. "But you look very tired, Luna, so I would

suggest you get some sleep and come to the surgery later".

"Thank you Doc" Seth smiled, shaking his hand. My mate led the doctor out the house, as I headed

upstairs and was in bed before he had shut the front door. Seth came up a few minutes later, admiring

me for a moment with a small smile.

He kissed the top of my head before heading into the bathroom. I was partially asleep when he climbed

into the bed, after his shower, and had just enough energy to move my head to his chest before falling

asleep.

After we slept for a few hours, Seth woke me up because I was running a slight fever. I felt fine, maybe

slightly achy, but nothing more to add. But we dressed and went to the doctor's surgery. The doctor ran

some tests and took some blood from me.

"What's the verdict, doc?" I asked, when he returned studying a clipboard.

"Well your blood pressure is a little high and you've got a slight fever, but neither of these are

uncommon in a forced first Shift" he began, before frowning at the clipboard. "However, it does seem

that you have the beginning of an infection".

"Like a UTI?" I frowned. I had had one of those before, it was horrible – I spent almost a solid week

screaming when I peed.

"No, this is an infection that we associate with wound healing. Even though your wound healed in the

Shift, it seems that the dirt from the forest still got into the wound. It seems to have caused an infection.

Usually, a Werewolf would fight this off in a number of days but because of the trauma your body has

been through, it is likely that you won't be able to fight it as quickly".

"Is there no medication you can give her for it?" Seth frowned, not looking happy with the information.

"Usually antibiotics would do the trick. But for Mabel it just isn't going to work, the antibiotics will affect

the rest of her body which is still healing from the Shift. And that will just cause more complications in

the long run" he explained. Seth had a few more questions as I listened quietly.

"Why do I look different?" I blurted out suddenly. The doctor and Seth turned to look at me in confusion.

"I've seen people Shift before and they didn't look much different afterwards. Maybe more muscled and

a little older, but nothing you wouldn't notice unless you really looked at them. But, I look like a

completely different person".

"It's because of your age, Luna" the doctor explained. "Your body was blocking your puberty because

you had not Shifted. In Wolves that Shift in their early teens, as their body prepares for the first Shift

then they slowly begin to change. But in little amounts, nothing that is not unusual for teenagers going

through puberty. So, by the time they Shift they have almost completed the full puberty change.

However, your puberty changes hadn't started because your body was not ready to Shift yet".

"And the forced Shift made all those changes happen at once" I summarised, nodding in

understanding.

Seth and I left, with the doctor instructing us to call him if the infection or fever began making me ill at

all. We first checked in with Josh, Dean and the searching parties – but no one had found any trace of

Yemi or Rafa. I was both thankful and disappointed, I wanted them punished but I was scared to see

them again.

"You should go home and rest. I'll have Shawna and Javier come keep you company, as I can't spare

Dean right now" Seth explained and I nodded softly. He seemed to notice my lack of snarky

commentary and instantly began to worry. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry that happened to you. To think one

of my Pack members could do that".

"I'm scared to see them again" I admitted, blushing softly. "I know I shouldn't be scared. I'm a Luna and

I should be--". My words were cut off as Seth grabbed me and pulled me to him, almost aggressively.

"You have every right to be scared, Mabel. These men lured you, hurt you, left you for dead in the

middle of a forest and then forced you to Shift. You would be insane if you weren't scared of them. If

that had happened to me, I would be scared of them".

I nodded softly, still feeling slightly pathetic. But I didn't tell Seth that, just kissed him quickly and walked

home. The entire time I walked home, I kept checking over my shoulder – worried that Yemi was going

to be there, ready to attack me again. It was ridiculous and naïve as I was in the middle of the Pack

territory, with people all around me.

But the attack had affected me a lot more that I wanted to admit.

.